Starcraft II

[MountainGo]

I just wanted to post in this thread and say that I'm crazy excited for SC2. I am a total noob, as I've never played an RTS online (I've always sucked at them, so I've only played single-player campaigns), but I've decided to take a break from go and focus my gaming energies on SC2 1v1. So if anyone here wants to play a game or two with me and teach me a few things, I'd be delighted. My battle.net username is BillyTheBanana (EDIT: I just read that SC2 names will have to be 12 characters or less, so I'll just make it BillyBanana). I'll be picking up my Best Buy pre-order (had a gift card) Tuesday morning and playing all day.

[fwiffo]

I haven't been serious at all about PC gaming in many years, I'm wondering if SC2 is an opportunity to get back into it. It sounds like the kind of game that would fill me with self-loathing, much like go. That would make it right up my alley.

[Aphelion]

Fwiffo, SC2 is the exact game for you.

[ketchup]

So I saw a thread linked on teamliquid irc which seemed interesting to me: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmes ... _id=137993

The computer APM are what I find the most interesting. It also seems to me that these computers are quite good compared to the average new person. It looks like a good place to start learning this game if you are not comfortable with humans.

[Jedo]

ITS OUT

[Mivo]

Been playing all morning. The campaign is superb. Bit tempted to play online after all, but for now I'll continue with the campaign and try to collect those achievements!

[Solomon]

Went to the midnight release, ran into an old HS friend which helped waiting in line less painful, got pulled over for speeding (you can tell how excited I was to play) but the Xel'Naga gods must have heard my prayers as the police officer let me off with a warning. Decided to twirl with campaign first and I am blown away by it right now. Haven't had this much fun in a while!

[Li Kao]

I haven't bought one yet. Need a new computer first. And then I need to figure out if I can buy the German version (which is cheaper than imports) but use a completely English client.

[explo]

I played the first two missions of the campaign and two games against the computer to get a first feel for the game and take a look at the hotkeys before I resisted th urge to try it online.

And then I need to figure out if I can buy the German version (which is cheaper than imports) but use a completely English client.

I downloaded the English version for Europe on battle.net and activated it with the copy I bought at the mall. So far, it works fine.

[Aphelion]

I hate you all. I won't be able to play until Thursday night.

[flOvermind]

Thursday? I'd love to be able to play on thursday...

Dispatched via Royal Mail (estimated arrival date: August 12, 2010).

That's what you get for pre-ordering early. First no beta invite, and then that. People who ordered it a lot later than me are already playing...
I still hope it's just a really conservative worst-case estimate

[Mivo]

And then I need to figure out if I can buy the German version (which is cheaper than imports) but use a completely English client.

When you register the game (CD key) in your battle.net account management, you will have the option to download the game. Simply setting your language preferences to English will allow you to download the client in English, even if you registered a German CD key. This works with any Blizzard game that you register.

It's actually exactly what I did. I bought the German version locally, added it to my battle.net account, and downloaded the English client. Well, to be precise, I'm still downloading it! It's 7 GB. In the meanwhile I've been playing with the German client from the DVD. (The localization is well done.)

Played about ten missions of the campaign so far. It's really very well done. I also did a couple skirmishs against the AI. I managed to lose a game on "easy"! (I won the next game after I had gained an idea what the map is like.)

[MountainGo]

I just played my first game online, and I am freaking out over the awesomeness. I built about five battlecruisers (with Yamato upgrade of course) just for the fun of it. And boy was it fun. I never actually played Starcraft online (I own it from way back but only played the single player), and I think I'm falling in love. Anyway, if anyone wants to add me as a friend, don't hesitate to send me a PM, and I'll give you my "character code".

[schultz]

I'm still trying to decide when I'm going to buy it. I'm really not all that excited about it, but I have a bunch of friends who are buying it, so I know I'll end up with it.

RTS games just feel like work to me. Maybe I've been playing too many other game types. Meh.

[Mivo]

RTS games just feel like work to me. Maybe I've been playing too many other game types. Meh.

I know the feeling. I'll say, though, that the single-player campaign is quite complex, deep and has rich story-telling elements, and it's not as franatic as the multiplayer experience. There are four difficulty settings, you can replay missions individually, and they are varied.

I've also played some co-op games with my ladyfriend against the AI, which was quite enjoyable. (She's better at this than me, too!) I generally prefer co-op style vs. the computer more than playing against people, and I'm glad the game supports it. We may try some games against other people, just for measure, but like you said, when RTS games are played competitively then it quickly feels like work. Just very twitchy and little time to think. All rated games are played on the fastest speed, too. You can't play rated games with other, slower time settings.